Forever Wandering
by LoveThatFandom
Summary: "Riley let out a strangled cry as she struggled to escape the grip of the eater. The other eaters were moving in on her when they realized she was trapped. The figures of Rick and Michonne had disappeared and she was alone." Eventual Carl/Oc. Rating may go up.
1. Collide

**Chapter 1: Collide**

In those first three seconds, you learn something about yourself.

_One._ You learn that you are not as tough as you make yourself out to be. You are weak.

_Two._ You learn that the people you don't care for actually mean something to you.

_Three._ You learn that you don't want these people gone; you don't want to be alone.

And then you're either lucky, or you're not. If you're lucky, you get to live to see another day. You get to escape the rotting bodies that want nothing more than to tear into your flesh. If you're not, you get overwhelmed by the dead and then it's over.

I'm one of the lucky ones.

I am Riley and this is my story.

* * *

Everything was too quiet. No chirping of the birds. No buzzing of the insects. _Nothing._ The only sound that could be heard was the soft slapping of black boots on the road. The sound was so quiet it was barely noticeable, but it was still there interrupting the complete silence. The young girl - Riley - that the boots were attached to was alone with a backpack slung over her shoulder, a knife attached to her belt, and gun stuffed into her dark jeans. She walked in a straight line, not wavering for any reason. When her head wasn't faced straight ahead, it was bobbing down to look at her feet as she walked. Her posture was stiff, giving indication she had been walking for a long time, and the sweat glistening on her skin was another visible sign of this.

The girl had no clear destination except straight ahead along the road. Wherever the road would take her, that was where she wanted to be. As long as that place had water. That was her only condition. She had been travelling alone for two weeks now and her water had run out yesterday morning. She still had some food left in her backpack and she had enough ammo to last her another day or two, so finding water was her top priority. And if she found a river, she wouldn't mind washing off a bit. Her ebony hair had been soaked with sweat, dirt, and blood for the past few days. Even a wash with no soap would be nice.

However, nowadays things that were "nice" didn't matter. It was all about survival. Food, water, guns...those were the three basic things needed for survival. Everything else was just a luxury. As unfortunate as it was, that was just the way it worked. The only time anyone could ever afford a luxury was if they had a place to stay. Obviously Riley didn't.

Her light blue eyes caught sight of a building up ahead and her pace quickened. The closer she got, the more the trees around the road thinned out and soon the one building became three. Before she got too close, she crouched down next to a tree and silently scanned the area for signs of eaters. The buildings seemed to be a collection of office-type buildings, only the difference was that they weren't clean and pristine. The dirt and grime was mostly from wear and abandonment, but she also spotted some blood splatters on the side of the middle building.

Something moving caught her attention and her gaze shifted to the third building. Two eaters were wandering slowly around the door. If those were all that were here, she could take them down easily, but she would search the first two buildings before she attempted to do any killing. If she could avoid them, she would. It was better not to waste time and energy when it wasn't needed. She couldn't afford to overexert herself.

If she was quick, she could probably make it to the first building without the eaters noticing. So without waiting any longer, she peeled out from behind the tree and quietly trotted over to building number one. The wooden door was slightly ajar, which was an instant red flag. Eaters or other survivors could be inside.

Riley pulled her knife from her belt and opened it up while pressing herself against the side of the house next to the door. She took a peek through the crack of the door, but didn't see anything of concern inside. All she could see were rows of cubicles and a few doors that must have led to bathrooms or a kitchen area. No eaters. As quietly as she could, she opened the door further, slipped inside, and then closed the door behind herself. Papers, books, staplers and the like were scattered everywhere. Some computers were even broken. If she was going to find any resources here, it probably wouldn't be much.

Since the main room was clear, she headed straight to one of the doors at the back and peered in through the small window. It was a kitchenette. Her hands fumbled quickly for the doorknob and she went right inside and began searching through drawer after drawer. When the cabinets and drawers yielded no water, she reached over to turn the sink faucet on. She would have been pretty damn lucky if the water was still working.

"Doesn't seem like I'm getting anything useful from here," she muttered to herself, aiming a frustrated kick at one of the open cabinets.

Her fists clenched and she glared down at the ground, her dark eyebrows knitting together as frustration and desperation clawed its way through her body. She was so thirsty and the dehydration was clouding her mind. She just _needed_ to find some sort of water source... All the water that could be retained in her body was oozing through her pores from the intense heat.

_Would drinking my own sweat be an option?_ Riley didn't exactly know where that thought had come from, but if she had no other option, it might not be the worst idea. She surely had enough sweat. Running her hands over her face, she let out a sigh and then reached for the doorknob. Her body instantly froze when an all too familiar sound reached her ears.

_Gunshots._

And then she was darting over to the closest window searching frantically for any human beings. The third building where the two eaters had been before was now completely overrun. A dozen or so were pouring out of the building like a pool without a wall and they were all headed toward a small group of very alive people. She counted three and one of them appeared to be around her own age. The older man, that couldn't be a day over 30, was trying to shield the younger boy from the reaches of the eaters as he shot the closest ones down. He was wearing jeans and brown flannel shirt that was splattered with blood from the close kills he was making. His dark brown and wavy hair wasn't helping him much, as it was all in his face as he shot the eaters down.

The woman that was nearby was swinging around a long, bloodied sword. Her body moved quickly as she spun and killed off the eaters with simple slices with her sword and her long dreadlocks moved in motion with her.

The boy, with a sheriff's hat atop his brown mess of hair, was trying to help, shooting the eaters every chance he got, but the man was blocking him most of the time. Just by the protective stance of the bearded man, she could see that he cared very much about the boy. Maybe they were father and son?  
These people were strangers to her. She didn't need to help them. They could turn on her after she had helped. But seeing the boy that was around her age made her think differently. Hunters didn't keep children around. She had been a victim of that. It was why she was alone now. So instead of wasting time wrestling with the decision in her head, she went with her gut feeling and darted outside to help.

As soon as the humid air hit her face again, she pulled her gun from the waistband of her jeans and clicked the safety off. One of the eaters was reaching for the boy. Aim. Breathe. Fire. The eater dropped like a fly and the boy's head snapped back to see where the bullet had come from. Blue connected with blue. She quickly moved forward, shoving the boy aside as an eater attempted to grab him while he was looking at her. She heard him fall to the ground behind her, but she didn't look back, aiming at the next eater and shooting it down.

Unfortunately, her next few shots weren't as lucky. Her head suddenly started to spin and the bullets she had been aiming at the eater's heads instead lowered to their shoulders and chests. It was the absolute worst time for her dehydration to rear its ugly head because the eaters were getting too close. She was just about to drop her gun and take out her knife when the boy came up beside her and shot the close ones down.

Riley felt an uncomfortable heat gush from her neck to her cheeks. She could have taken those eaters down just fine on her own! She didn't need help from a stranger! Gnashing her teeth, she aimed at the single eater that was left and brought it down with a bullet to the skull. Then, she brought a hand up to her head and rubbed the side of her face, blinking away the dizziness. The man and woman were now turning to her and she took a step back. Her hand was gripped firmly on her gun in case they decided to try anything. The man looked over her carefully. She was expecting him to say something first, as he seemed to be the one in charge, but it was the sheriff boy who spoke first. His voice was deeper than she imagined, but it was also cracking slightly thanks to puberty.

"Thanks for knocking me over. I could have handled everything fine." The sarcasm dripping from his words was quite evident.

Riley scoffed. Was he for real? "I saved your ass! How about a 'thank you'? I could have just left you all to the eaters. I didn't have to stop by for a cup of tea."

The man put a hand on the boy's chest, gently pushing him backwards as the boy opened his mouth to protest.

"Don't mind him. We've been through a lot today. Didn't get too much sleep. Name's Rick Grimes. That's Michonne," he pointed to the woman, "and smart alec over here is my son, Carl."

Riley shot a glare at Carl before looking up to the man named Rick. He seemed awfully nice for a survivor. "Riley."

"Are you alone?" Michonne questioned.

"Does it look like I have anyone tagging along? Wait, I think I've got someone in my backpack," she quipped, taking another step back and rolling her eyes.

"No group? You're pretty young to be wanderin' on your own. Can't be older than Carl," Rick commented, raising his eyebrows and tilting his head.

"Fifteen is old enough in my books."

"Carl's fifteen," Michonne piped up.

"Your opinions and my opinions are different," Riley muttered, trying to avoid the topic. Couldn't they see that she didn't want to be badgered with questions about her being alone? It was like they'd never seen a lone person before. "Look, I helped you and now that the eaters are dead I can't stick around."

"We can't just leave you alone," Rick said.

"Why not?" Carl muttered, his gaze hard and his tone moody.

Rick ignored Carl. "This world isn't a place for children anymore. You may be tough and you may be stubborn, but you're still young and hot headed. And the fact that you put your neck on the line to help us proves that you're not like everyone else. I can't just leave you behind knowing all that. That would be on _my_ conscience."

Riley stared at him, her eyebrows furrowing together. After everything that happened with her group before, she had some serious trust issues, but Rick was being so persistent. Would it be a bad idea to tag along? It was so strange that complete strangers could still be nice after everything that had happened. If she went with this group, she couldn't form a bond. She couldn't get _attached_. Just like her last two groups, she was sure this one would come crumbling down. She had to be prepared to go out alone. She had to be prepared to let go.

Could she even do that? She didn't have to stick around, but Rick made it seem like they were going to follow her around no matter what. Maybe this was a chance to start over. She didn't have to like these people. And the fact that they would hang around would mean that she wouldn't have to go looking for food and water by herself.

"Fine. You can tag along. But I'm not going to lag around playing sheriff's deputy." She shot a pointed look over at Carl. "You treat me like an adult and we'll be good."

Michonne's lips curled up in an amused smirk and Rick nodded, holding out his hand for her to shake. Riley stared down at his hand for a moment before shaking it.

"We got ourselves a deal," he said.

"Dad," Carl started, his tone like the bristles of a porcupine, "you can't be serious. We don't even know her."

Rick pulled Carl aside and she rolled her eyes as he bent down to look his son in the eyes and explain his reasoning. She could already tell that she and Carl were not going to get along very well. Sure, she had knocked him over, but he would have been bit if she hadn't noticed. He probably just didn't want to admit that he had gotten saved by a girl. A typical boy...

"Where are you guys headed?" she asked Michonne, turning her back to Rick and Carl.

"Been seein' signs for a place called Terminus. Following the train tracks and scavenging when we get the chance. We think the rest of our group might be headed there," she answered, her dark brown eyes studying Riley.

"Terminus? Doesn't that sound like the best place in Georgia. Did you guys happen to pass a stream or something?" Riley glanced from Michonne to Rick as the man straightened out and turned back toward her.

"We did this mornin' but it's quite a ways back. Carl's got a jug a water in his bag," Rick informed, glancing over to his son and holding out his hand for the bag around his shoulder.

Carl glanced up to his father as he reluctantly handed him the bag. Rick pulled a medium-sized jug out and handed it to the teen girl. She had to hide her excitement. Swallowing the dry saliva in her mouth, she unscrewed the cap and began to drink. It was like an instant transformation. Her mouth went from feeling like cotton to feeling like a pool and she had to force herself to stop gulping down the lukewarm liquid before she drank too much. It was probably swarming with bacteria and who-knows-what, but it was the best water she had since yesterday morning.

Riley handed the jug back to Rick once she was done and nodded her thanks. At least she didn't have to go looking for water for the rest of the day. One thing less for her to think about.

"It's startin' to get late so we'll need to find a place to camp. I'd say here, but if there are any walkers in the area, they'd come runnin' after we were shootin' up the place. Best we move on," Rick pointed out, putting the jug back into the bag and giving it back to Carl. "Did ya see anything in the buildings we could use?"

Walkers? She had heard plenty of different names for the eaters, but she hadn't heard that one before. Riley shook her head. "Not in building one, at least."

"Why don't we check the other two 'fore we move on? Michonne, you wanna take Carl with you in the second building? I'll take Riley with me in the next."

Michonne smiled a little at Carl and motioned for him to follow after her.

"If ya need anything, just shout out and we'll come runnin'," Rick reminded, patting his son on the shoulder as he went to join Michonne.

Rick and Riley were then left alone and she glanced over the man. His eyes were narrowed and slightly squinted and his face was wrinkled up in thought as he looked at her. It made her feel a little bit uneasy and she questioned her decision to let them hang around. Before she could quickly duck away toward the building in front of them, he moved in front of her, his eyes sharp as he looked at her.

"Before we go in, I just want to ask you a few questions," he said.

Riley remained silent, unsure of what to make of his change in behavior. He studied her for a moment before speaking up again.

"How many walkers have you killed?"

"Too many to count," she muttered, her eyes darting all over his face as she tried to avoid his sharp gaze.

"How many people have you killed?"

Riley took in a sharp breath when she realized what this was. It was a test - a test to see if she would be trustworthy. Even though he was the one who wanted her to go with them, he still had to make sure. She had to take this carefully.

"I haven't had to kill anyone yet." _Lies. Lies. Lies._

She forced her eyes to connect with his in a desperate attempt to show that she wasn't lying. But she _was_ and he could _never know._ Those memories full of pain and misery were ones she tried to block out, but this man was reminding her. He, a man that she barely knew, was bringing her back to her past and it was crashing down around her. She could see the scenery morphing around her. She could see the filthy, rotting bodies of the eaters desperately reaching at her. She could hear the cries of the innocent.

Rick put his hands on his hips. "Just know that you might have to," he said quietly after a moment of silence.

Then, he motioned for her to go ahead and she nodded slowly, turning away from him and taking a deep breath. Riley needed to focus and stay alert now. Slipping the knife from her belt, she opened it up and crept into the dark and dingy office building. It was easy to tell the eaters had been around in the building for a while. Blood was splattered all over the walls and floor. Computers, papers, and chairs were all out of place and splayed all over the floor. She even detected some skin and other undesirables on the corners of tables and stuck to the floor.

Awhile ago, she would have thrown up the contents of her stomach at the sight of the gore and blood, but she was used to it by now. Everyone she had met had seen the worst things possible and it just seemed to be getting worse and worse.

The soft banging on a door caught her and Rick's attention and the man hurried toward the closed door near the back, pressing his ear against the wood. She neared at a slower pace. The sounds behind the door was obviously the growling and snarling of an eater. It would be best for them to avoid it and search the other rooms. But it seemed Rick had different ideas.

"I'm gonna open the door and distract it and I want you to kill it, alright?" he instructed, those intense blue eyes of his jumping to connect with her own.

She quickly jumped on the defensive. "What? It can't get to us behind the door! Why can't we leave it here?"

"There might be supplies in there," was his simple reply.

Riley stared at him for a moment before slowly backing away and raising her knife. Rick reached out and grasped the doorknob, opening it and then beginning to wave his arms to get the attention of the lone eater. It growled and staggered toward him, reaching out to try and grab onto him, but he was too quick. She snuck up behind it, biting her lip as she tried to time everything exactly right. It was pretty tall and she'd have to either jump up to take it out or get it to fall on its knees. Or she could always leave Rick to deal with it.

She was sure that if she left Rick and ran that it might not end well for her, especially if Michonne and Carl were already done poking through their building. So, with fierce determination, she sprang forward, bringing her foot down hard on the back of its leg. It gave a sickening crack and the eater fell to the ground in front of her, giving her enough time to plunge her knife into its rotting skull. It gave one final growl before falling lifeless at her feet.

Rick nodded at her and moved forward to the open doorway. She pulled a rag out of her back pocket and wiped the blood off her knife before following him into the other room, which was another office area. Amidst one of the cluttered desks, she spotted what appeared to be a bag of chips and after moving everything aside, she was able to see it was a small sealed bag of potato chips. Some food was better than no food. There wasn't much else to find, but Rick had found a half-empty first aid kit in the bathroom with band aids and some gauze inside.

"Nothin' else here," he muttered, heading back outside.

Riley stayed behind for a moment just to shove the bag of chips into her backpack, but she soon caught up with him, who had met up with Carl and Michonne just outside the door.

"We should get movin' before the walkers start to show up. Maybe there will be a place not too far from here we can set up camp for the night," Michonne piped up.

"Alright but let's not go too far from the tracks," Rick suggested. "Don't want to loose 'em."

They headed out into the woods in the opposite direction Riley had taken to get to the buildings. Everyone remained quiet for a few moments before Michonne and Carl started to talk quietly to each other. She glanced back behind her at Carl when she swore that she heard her name, but he stopped talking as soon as she had and stared at her with a gaze all too similar to his father's. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest. He was definitely doing a good job of making her feel unwelcome, but she wasn't going to let him know that. Besides, the ruder he was to her, the less she would care about these people and she could not care about these people in any way, shape, or form.

It wasn't too long before they had come across the train tracks that they had been talking about.

"We should head northwest, see if we can find a place there. If not, we'll camp out in the woods," Rick explained.

"Do you even have any idea what this Terminus place is?" Riley asked suddenly.

"No. But it's not like we have anywhere better to look for our group. Wandering around the woods would take forever," Carl muttered.

"I wasn't asking you, wise guy."

She saw Rick give them an amused smile out of the corner of her eye.

"No wonder you were on your own."

Riley rolled her eyes and turned away from Carl, beginning to walk once more. The light was starting to fade and she had a feeling they weren't going to find a place to stay before it got too dark. They were practically in the middle of nowhere with only the train tracks as a landmark. As they wandered through the woods, she realized how quiet it had been, just like before the whole eater herd back at the office buildings. She hoped that it didn't mean anything. It made her feel a bit uncomfortable and she kept an extra eye out as they continued to walk.

It felt like they had been walking for thirty minutes before it was too dark to see. Rick slowed down and looked around carefully before turning back to look at them.

"We can't go much further in this light. We oughta settle down here 'n then we'll head back to the tracks in the mornin' to try 'n cover more ground. Michonne, can you stay on watch while I get a fire goin'?

Michonne replied with a nod and unsheathed her katana. Riley bent down to try and find some sticks and longs they might be able to use for firewood. It didn't do much good, however, because it was so dark she merely ended up fumbling around the area and trying not to bump into trees. In the end, it didn't really matter because Rick had already started a fire up and she abandoned her search to sit in front of the low-burning fire.

"I'll keep watch first. You three get some rest," Michonne said quietly.

Riley didn't think that she would sleep at all, but it had been days since she had someone to watch her back while she slept, so she found herself dozing off against her backpack. She fought with everything she had to stay awake, but her eyelids were too heavy and sleep was too welcoming. The next thing she knew, everything was turning black and she was out like a flashlight.

* * *

Her body was being shaken violently. She could hear muffled shouting and the _crack_ of a gunshot. Riley bolted upright, the sleep vanishing from her body as she looked around. Carl was crouched next to her and once he knew she was awake, he let go of her shoulders.

"Took you long enough!" he shouted bitterly. "We need to get out of here!"

"_What_ is going on?!" she growled, pulling out her gun quickly and glancing around. She could make out Rick a little ways away trying to keep two eaters at bay. Michonne was nowhere to be found, but she could hear her sword slicing through the air. It was only when she took a closer look that she realized there was an entire herd of eaters surrounding them, and one of them was headed straight toward her and Carl.

Without waiting for his response, she clicked the safety off her gun and took aim, taking the eater down. Then, she reached for her backpack and slung it over her shoulder before scrambling to her feet. The eaters were beginning to close in on them and she could barely hear Rick's screams over the rapid thumping of her heart.

"Run! Run!"

Riley took off running, dodging eaters as they reached their disgusting, rotting hands for her face. She took two more of them down on the way, but after that, she was out of ammo. There were some loose bullets in her backpack, but she didn't have the time to stop and find them. She could see Rick and Michonne's figures just up ahead. Carl was probably just ahead of them. She was the one falling behind. _Almost there. Just hurry up and run faster..._

And then she was being yanked back by her black hair, the growling of an eater whispering in her ear, beckoning her to a feast - a feast of her own flesh. Riley let out a strangled cry as she struggled to escape the grip of the eater. The other eaters were moving in on her when they realized she was trapped. The figures of Rick and Michonne had disappeared and she was alone. Suddenly, the crack of a gunshot filled her ears and the eater that had its grasp on her hair went limp. She shook the dead eater off and glanced to her right to see Carl.

"Come on!" he shouted, taking off as the eaters closed in on them.

Riley didn't hesitate. She caught up with the boy, taking in short, quick gasps of air to fill up her lungs. Carl must have been behind her rather than in front of her. Even though she and Carl didn't really get along, she was glad he was there or it would have ended a lot differently.

The longer they ran, the more distant the snarling of the eaters became and soon she had to stop to breathe. She bent over and placed her hands on her knees, trying to steady her breaths as Carl did the same.

"W-where is your dad and Michonne?" she spluttered, looking over at him.

"They w-were just up ahead last time I checked," he replied breathlessly.

Riley quickly scanned the area around them, seeing no signs of Michonne or Rick. She couldn't hear anyone shouting or any of the eaters anymore either. Everything was silent. Slowly, she straightened up and took a deep breath, her blue eyes locking with Carl's. "We're alone."

* * *

**A/N: And just as a warning before you start reading this author's note, it's probably going to be long. I hope that you enjoyed this first chapter of my very first Walking Dead fanfiction. I was honestly a little bit unsure about doing any Walking Dead fanfics because I didn't know if I could do any of the characters justice. I'm still a little unsure about that, so if you enjoyed this or saw anything that was ooc, _please _let me know in a review! I want to try and do the best I can with this story, so feedback is really important. On a side note, this is the longest chapter I have ever written (5,000 words) and I have a feeling that most of the other chapters will be around the same length. Although, since I have other stories I'm writing right now and due to the fact that chapters will be longer, I might not be able to update as often as I would hope. But I will surely try!**

**If you're wondering why I've chosen Carl/Oc as my first TWD fic, well, I honestly wasn't gong to at first. I wanted to do a Canon/Oc story that wasn't too popular (unlike Daryl/Oc, but I have and idea for that so I might end up doing it even though there are so many). I was originally going to do Rick/Oc because I have barely seen any on here, but I could not come up with a single good idea for a plotline. I also didn't want to do any characters that were too minor since I'm still unsure about writing even the main characters. I looked up Carl/Oc and didn't see a whole lot and since Carl's character is a little bit easier than some of the others, I decided to go with it. I did tweak Carl's age slightly, as he's really supposed to be 14, but I moved him up a year. Hopefully it's not too big of a deal. **

**And finally, to end this hideously long author's note, I just want to warn you that this is not going to be a very "happy and easy" romance story. Romance isn't even going to be the main part and it will be _very _eventual. It's going to be dark and full of hardships (but I'll try to keep a light element to some of it). I'm also a little unsure if I should keep this story rated T, so if there's anything you see that might merit it an M, just let me know. So as of now, the rating might change to M later for gore and violence. **

**Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! This is just the beginning! Thanks for reading! **


	2. Circles

_"We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided." - J.K. Rowling_

* * *

**Chapter 2: Circles**

Carl was a lot quieter than Riley was expecting. Maybe he was just thinking of a way to get them out of this situation. Or maybe he was just too surprised that he would have to deal with her bossing him around until they found Rick and Michonne again. Taking a quick glance around, she bent down and began to rummage through her backpack when she saw that there weren't any eaters in the immediate vicinity. At the very bottom of her backpack, she was able to feel the cold metal bullets and she scooped them up.

"They might not be too far," Carl muttered, scanning the woods almost nervously.

Riley pulled the clip out of her gun and began to slide her four remaining bullets inside. "Yeah, because running around the woods in random directions will help us find exactly where they are."

"Do you have a better idea? Because sitting around here waiting for them to find us is a worse idea than that." His voice was stiff and harsh.

"The logical thing to do is stay put. If they come looking for us, which I'm sure they will, it'll be easier if we stay here. We might end up going in the opposite direction."

"But if we're both looking for each other, then there is a greater possibility of us finding them. If you want to stay here, fine. But I'm going to go look for them."

Riley scowled and crossed her arms, waiting for him to leave. It looked like she was just going to go back to being alone again. Carl began to walk off into the darkness and he disappeared inside the brush. Finally, she was alone and she didn't have to deal with his snotty attitude. Now she just had to focus on getting out of these woods herself and finding somewhere to stay. She didn't know how late in the night it was, but she figured that she had at least slept for a few hours. It was probably around one in the morning. It would be difficult to navigate the woods at this hour, but she would do it anyway. She didn't have too much of a choice in the matter anyway.

If she ran into Rick and Michonne, maybe she would try and help them find Carl. He had been too stubborn to listen to her, but she knew that Rick wouldn't be able to handle it if anything happened to Carl. She had seen it when they had been fighting the eaters back at the office buildings. And Rick had given her water and let her come along when he didn't have to. She at least owed them that much. However, if she didn't see them, she wasn't going to go out of her way to try and find them.

Just as Riley was about to take off deeper into the wilderness, a figure slowly appeared out of the shadows. She instinctively raised her gun, but lowered it as soon as she realized that it was Carl. What was he doing back? Did he finally decide that it would be better to cooperate with her now?

"Thought you went lookin' for your dad. Find anything?" She raised an eyebrow.

Carl didn't say anything for a moment and simply glared at her. There was a little bit of something else underneath his initial first layer, though. If she was correct, it was hesitation.

"Did an eater render your voice box useless? If you're going to say something, spit it out and stop trying to be dramatic. I have to get out of here and find somewhere safe to say."

Carl looked away and muttered moodily, "I don't know which direction we came."

Riley smirked at his confession. "Even if I did remember which direction we came from, what makes you think that I'd help you? You aren't the nicest monkey in the zoo."

"How can you just do that? How can you just be such a..."

"Such a _what?_ Not allowed to cuss?"

"How can you be such a _bitch?_ You should be grateful that we weren't the type of people who would shoot you without a thought! My dad wanted to help you and you're just blowing us off!" his voice rose to a shout.

"I barely know you! What makes you think that I would follow you guys around like a puppy and do everything you say?!"

"You just don't follow anyone, do you? You make your own rules!"

"The government isn't exactly intact! Rules don't exist anymore! Apocalypse, remember?!"

Carl's fists clenched and he gave her a piercing stare. She stared right back, nostrils flaring like a horse. This argument was getting them nowhere. They might as well just be going in circles now, calling each other names and insulting one another. He opened his mouth to speak once more, but the cracking of a twig caught their attention and both of their heads snapped to where it had come from. Next, they heard a moan, then two more. A rotting hand appeared in the moonlight, reaching out to grab Carl.

"Run!" she bellowed, shoving Carl forward.

Not only had Riley just saved his life again, she had also gotten out some pent up anger. If only she could give him a good shove again...

The two of them began their sprint for the second time that night. Their shouting must have attracted the herd. Now they really were going to be lost. The only hope they had would be if Rick and Michonne had heard their shouting too. As they continued running, she made sure to keep her distance from Carl in case they had to switch directions rapidly. They were lucky to have escaped the eaters for a second time. Their day had just been full of luck. Luck doesn't last forever and she needed to remember that. She had been too careless.

They didn't get too far before she was needing air again. Shouting at him had left her a lot more breathless than she thought. Carl was thinking the same thing, because he reached over and pulled her sleeve roughly to stop her.

"Can't stop now!" she wheezed, looking back. She could still hear them moaning and shuffling their way.

"I-I can't breathe," he gasped, leaning against a nearby tree.

Riley tried to spot the eaters in the dark, but it was near impossible. She couldn't get a clear shot. It would be likely that she would miss if she tried. Best not to waste the bullets.

"Riley!" he suddenly called out and she looked over to see him halfway up a tree. "Get up here!"

Was he for real? Sure, climbing a tree was a good idea, but _why_ was he helping her? He could have easily climbed up the tree without telling her and leave her to be devoured. He had every right to want to have that be the case. She had shouted at him, pushed him, and insulted him. There was _no_ reason for him to help her. She had saved his life, but he had also saved hers. They were even and he was still helping her again.

"Riley!" he shouted again. "Give me your hand, _now_!"

She wasn't just going to stand there like an idiot gaping at him. With all haste, she jumped up, grabbing onto the lowest limb with one hand and reaching out for Carl's arm with the other. He gripped her arm just below her elbow and began to pull her up with all of his strength. Riley's boot skimmed the top of an eater's head as she was pulled up, but she was safely on the limb of the tree before it could reach up and grab her. She didn't stop at the first limb and began to climb higher until she felt that she was at a safe distance from the eaters below.

The only problem they had now was getting down in the morning. The eaters would probably still be around, or at least a majority of them would be. She glanced sideways at Carl, who was still trying to catch his breath.

"Why did you help me?" she pressed, keeping her hand firmly wrapped around the branch above her.

He remained still for a moment and then turned his head to face her. His piercing blue eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't snap at her like she was expecting. "Because I'm still human."

Both of them were silent after that for a long time. In fact, it was starting to get light out before either of them said anything. He was the first to speak.

"Most of them are still around, but they've given up trying to get at us. Our best bet is to get down now and run again."

Riley let out an exasperated sigh. "Run again? Are you kidding? Can't we try to get over to the tree next to us?"

"Let's not argue again," Carl said coldly. "Look where that got us."

She hated to admit it, but he had a point. If they started to argue again, they might resort to shouting, and that would just get the eaters attention again.

"Fine. Let's just hurry up and get out of here."

"I'll go down first. You cover me and then when I get to the ground I'll cover you," he explained.

Riley nodded stiffly at him and then he began to descend. She followed after him, stopping halfway down and raising her gun in case any of the eaters noticed them getting down. He was being pretty quiet, so he wasn't noticed until his feet landed on the crunchy leaves below. A nearby eater made a grab at him, but he was quick and took it down with a knife that she didn't know he was carrying. He then motioned for her to get down and she shoved her gun in her jean, freeing up her hands so she could climb more quickly. A few times on her way down, she heard the oozing of brains as Carl killed off more eaters that began to notice them, but she was able to make it to the ground without being too worried that they would get overwhelmed.

Once she made it to the ground, they started to slip away, staying as quiet as possible but also going as fast as possible. A small group of five eaters were tailing them, but they would be easy to kill between the two of them. She raised her gun, ready to shoot, but he quickly shoved her hand down.

"If we shoot them, the others will come running! Don't you know anything?"

Without another word, he moved toward the closest one and grabbed its shirt, pulling its head down enough so he could stab it in the skull. A surge of hot anger crackled through her system and she quickly exchanged her gun for her knife and followed his example. Soon enough, the five eaters were laying dead in a pile at their feet. Now they could actually get moving again.

"So do you remember which way we came?" she asked, her tone slightly mocking.

Carl rolled his eyes before looking around. "Well...no."

Riley sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Let's just start walking, then..."

And so their morning began. There were no signs of Michonne or Rick for a little while, but Carl pointed out some tracks in the ground after they had been walking for a good thirty minutes.

"Could be them."

Riley rolled her eyes. "Do you know how many people have probably been doing exactly what we are doing? Could be anyone."

"And anyone includes my dad."

"Well yeah I guess... Could also just be eater tracks, too."

"We don't have anything else to go off of. This is our best chance."

"Alright, alright, you got me there," she muttered.

The two didn't have to go very far before the trees were thinning out. Gravel was the first thing visible and then the old, rusted train tracks. The footprints must have been from earlier or someone else. It was more likely that they were from earlier. Since they hadn't seen anyone else yet, she assumed that only she, Rick, Carl, and Michonne were the ones wandering out in the woods.

"These were from before we found you," he groaned softly. "The creek we found shouldn't be too far from here. We should head there to get some water. I left the jug in the middle of the woods."

"Sounds good to me," she replied. Any sort of running water sounded good.

"Whoa did I just hear that correctly?"

"What?" she snapped, her eyebrows furrowing. What had she said?

"You actually agreed with me." A small smirk tugged at his lips. It was barely noticeable, but just the fact that she _noticed_ made it seem a lot bigger than it really was. Heat rushed up to her cheeks.

"Ha-ha." Her reply was incredibly lame, but she was so flustered that she couldn't think of a witty remark. So she had agreed with him. Big deal. Water was important, why was he making it such a catastrophic event?

"No sarcastic remark?"

Riley blew her ebony bangs out of her eyes in exasperation. "Let's just keep moving, okay?"

She picked up her pace to a speedy walk and he soon caught up with her. He was the one who knew where the creek was, so she'd have to let him be the one to lead the way. As they walked, she could still make out some of the footprints on the ground, but the further they walked, the more they disappeared. There appeared to be a good amount of staggering tracks crossing through and heading toward the woods they had just escaped. The eaters that they had run into... She wondered exactly what had attracted them to the woods in the first place, but it was possible it could have just been a herd passing through. The thought of the herds made her shudder. It was nothing she wanted to think about. Not after...

Riley shook her head quickly and looked away from the tracks. It was better to focus her mind on what they were doing now. It would be dangerous to get lost in her thoughts, especially if there were more eaters around, or worse, other living people.

"Hey, this way!" Carl exclaimed suddenly, veering off the endless train tracks and onto a dirt pathway.

Riley picked up a jog to catch up and once they were in the woods again, she could see the small creek just up ahead. Sweet running water! She didn't care that it was probably a dirty mud hole. All she cared was that it was something to drink and wash her filthy hair in. When she reached the bank, she fell down onto her knees and cupped her hands to scoop up the water to her mouth. It took a few good handfuls to keep her thirst at bay. Then, she splashed some water onto her face. It was like swimming in a pool.

The creek wasn't actually deep enough to swim in, but she could dip her hair in easily enough.

"How are we going to collect any of it? You got anything in your bag?" he questioned, rubbing some of the water droplets on his face.

She slid the backpack off her shoulders and pulled out an empty water bottle, handing it to him. "Only one I got, but it'll have to work."

After unofficially giving him the task of filling up the water bottle, she untied her boots and then began to walk into the water. The deepest area of the creek only went up to the bottom of her knees. She then dipped her head down into the water and tried to work the dirt out with her hands. It turned out to be only partially successful. However, she still felt refreshed and a little bit cleaner.

"Guess now we should try and head back to the buildings. How long d'you think it'll take to get from here to there?"

Carl shrugged. "Dunno. Took us a while to get there. Maybe half a day?"

"Well by the time we get there it should be a little after noon, maybe twoish. Let's hurry and just get this over with."

Putting her boots back on and her backpack over her shoulder, they headed back toward the train tracks.

"So what's the story of the hat, Sheriff's Deputy?"

Carl was silent for a moment before saying, " it's my dad's. He was a sheriff before all of this."

"Cute." She rolled her eyes.

"Where are your parents?"

"I didn't say _you_ could ask me questions."

His eyes glanced down to the ground when he realized what she really meant. "Oh."

"Yeah..."

Riley never really liked to talk about her parents. Not after everything that happened. He was still lucky to have at least one of his parents. Or maybe he had both. She didn't really know since his mom hadn't been with his dad, but it was possible that she was with the rest of the group they were trying to find. She could be completely untactful and ask, but she didn't. It was something she understood, so she wasn't going to go bugging him. Not like she cared, anyway...

"Why are you so closed off?" he asked suddenly.

Her eyebrows furrowed. Why was she so closed off? That was a stupid question. Did he even look around at the world they lived in? Or maybe he had just been in a fairytale world until his group had gotten separated. He didn't seem like he had been, though. He knew exactly how to kill the eaters and he definitely wasn't acting like everything was okay. Maybe he just hadn't been in as dark of a place as she had been.

"Why are you so open?" she countered.

"I'm not. Just not as closed off as you are."

"Well aren't you just a balance beam."

"You're avoiding my question."

Riley stopped suddenly, her eyes narrowing as he caught his gaze. "You won't know. And you never will. You don't know me and what I've done."

"Everyone has had to do something they never thought they would. You're not anything special."

"Maybe not. But even though everything I've done might not be the worst, it has still affected _me._"

Riley watched as his eyes darted all over her face as if he was trying to think of something to say, but after a few moments, she realized that he wasn't going to say anything. Turning away, she started to walk again, her gaze intense on the empty train tracks ahead. Something shining on the side of the trees caught her attention and she swerved in front of Carl to go and see what it was. Maybe it was Michonne and her katana?

Upon closer look, she realized that it was a sign attached to a tree. All it had was an arrow that was pointing toward the woods. What was that supposed to mean?

"Did you see this on the way before?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No. But we should probably keep moving."

"It won't take long to look," she muttered and took off down the ghost of a path without waiting for him.

She heard him let out an irritated noise, but she ignored him. A few more signs were scattered along the way, and the woods opened up into a large field where a house was poking out of the tall grass. It was possible this house could have been untouched by others. Any supplies would be good.

"Now are you glad we came this way?" Riley shot him a smirk before practically leaping into the tall grass. It only went up to her shoulders, so she would still be able to see where she was going. Someone really needed to come in here with a lawnmower...

It was a fight to get to the house. Even though she could still see clearly where she was going, the grass was still tall enough to entangle itself in her belt and around her arms. She was constantly having to stop to yank the strands from her belt and push aside clumps of the grass to make it easier for her to continue on. The closer they got, the more clearly they could see the house. There didn't appear to be any eaters around, which had to have been luck. This house might not be a bad place to hole up for awhile. It seemed untouched and the creek wasn't too far from here.

"No walkers," he murmured, stopping in front of the house.

"No walkers," she agreed.

Still, just as a precautionary, she took out her knife as she approached the door. First, she pressed her ear against the wood. There were no moans or growls. Cautiously, she reached out and opened the door. It was surprisingly dark inside, but overall it was..._clean_. It hadn't been looted, unless the looters decided to put everything back in a neat order, which was unlikely.

Carl stepped ahead of her and slipped into another room. Rolling her eyes, she went the opposite direction and found herself in a living room. It was small and cozy with a pink couch and chair. There wasn't a television anywhere, but there was a nice little fireplace. Nothing really seemed to be of use in the room, so she headed to the hallway to find a small bedroom in the back with just a queen sized bed and a few dressers. She began to rummage through the dressers to find some clothes she might be able to use. A jacket maybe?

The clothes were much to big for her, but some of the light sweaters she found would be useful for when it started to get cold again. She tucked two away in her backpack and then headed back into the main hallway. Carl was in the small kitchen, but it seemed he had found food because of the cans on the counter. She picked one up an read the label.

"Canned potatoes? Guess that's better than peas..."

He rolled his eyes. "Any food is better than none. See if you can find any knives in the drawer."

Riley ducked over the open mahogany cabinet to the drawers and began searching. There was a drawer full of knives, but there was only one that was really useful because it was larger and stronger. It was so sharp that whoever lived here had slipped a cover over it to prevent anyone from cutting themselves. She shrugged, unhooking her folded knife from her belt and slipping it into her boot. She then hooked the new knife around her belt loop.

"Anything else useful?" she questioned.

"Not really. The two cans was all I could find. Everything else was spoiled."

"Alright. Guess we'd better head back to the tracks."

She plopped the two cans of potatoes into her backpack and then zipped it up. He was already ahead of her and heading toward the door. She made sure to close it tightly in case they needed to come back. The way back through the grass wasn't any easier than it had been before, but she had a technique down so that she wouldn't have to constantly stop to pull the strings of grass off her body.

The rest of the trip was made in silence, but she could tell that Carl was itching to get to the buildings to see if his dad was there. Hadn't he ever been on his own before? He must have been really lucky to have gotten through everything with his father by his side. She had only met someone her age one other time but she never really got along with that person...well she didn't really get along much with Carl either, but at least he knew how to take care of himself. The other girl she had met had been a complete novice and was always hiding behind her parents whenever something happened.

In this new world, everyone had to know how to defend themselves. Everyone had to know how to use a gun. Everyone needed to know when to stay away from strangers and when it was okay to approach them. In a sense, there were more rules now than there had ever been before all of this.

It was about mid-afternoon by the time they reached the three office buildings they had met at yesterday. On this side of the trees, it was hard to see them, but she could hear the moans and snarls. Riley crept up through the trees and peered around one of them to get a better look. Carl crouched down beside her.

There was about a dozen eaters. She and Carl wouldn't be able to take them all on her own. She only had four bullets left and she wasn't sure if he had any left. Trying to take them out with just knives would be suicide. There were no signs that Michonne and Rick had been up this way and she didn't see them hanging around the outskirts. It was a good idea that they would have been here, they just weren't here now. Maybe they would come along later? The best thing to do would be to head back to that house and then check back in over here tomorrow. If they still weren't here by tomorrow, then they must have been going somewhere in the opposite direction.

"They're not here," she whispered, glancing over at him.

He stared at the lot for a moment more before nodding slowly and sighing. "We should wait here, see if they turn up."

Riley shook her head. "Are you crazy? Look, I know that you want to get back to your dad, but if we stay here, we're sitting bait! Besides, it's going to get dark soon and we can head back to that farmhouse where it's safe."

"If they come back while we're gone, they won't know we've been here," he argued, his eyebrows furrowing.

"And you'd rather potentially get devoured by eaters waiting?"

Carl gritted his teeth and looked down at the ground for a moment. He then stood up slowly. "Let's go."

And then they began their journey back to the farmhouse. The whole day they had just been going in circles.

* * *

**A/N: I apologize if this isn't the most interesting chapter, but it needed to happen. I needed to get Riley and Carl a little more comfortable with each other before diving into the nitty gritty. I promise the next chapter will pick up. This chapter is a lot of back and forth, which is kind of implied by the title, but I hope I didn't bore you too much. I tried to add some banter between them to make it more interesting. Anyway, I'm _extremely _surprised by the response to this! Thank you guys so much for all of the reviews, follows, and favorites! I'm really glad that you like the first chapter and I hope this one didn't disappoint too much! Hopefully I've kept Carl somewhat in character. But if you have any critiques, please don't hesitate to let me know! Again, thanks so much for the support and hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
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